Ghana Revenue Authority takes over revenue agencies completely

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has taken over completely the responsibilities of the erstwhile Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Value Added Tax Service (VATS) and Revenue Agencies Governing Board (Secretariat).

A statement from the GRA in Accra said on Tuesday  that the revenue agencies, therefore, cease to exist and have been subsumed into the Ghana Revenue Authority with the passage of GRA Act, 2009 (Act 791).

The Act established the GRA as a body corporate to replace the erstwhile CEPS, IRS, VATS and RAGB for the administration of domestic tax and customs revenue in Ghana.

It said in a the statement released by Mr George Blankson, Commissioner-General of GRA that under GRA, the operations units of the erstwhile IRS and VATS had been integrated into the Domestic Tax Revenue Division (DTRD) while the operations and preventive units of the erstwhile CEPS now formed the Customs Division.

All the management support functions that used to be performed under the erstwhile CEPS, IRS, VATS and RAGB, that is Finance, Human Resource, Administration, Information Technology and Research Planning and Monitoring, have been merged to form the Support Services Division (SSD).

Each of these divisions is headed by a Commissioner while the remaining management support functions, including Communication and Public Affairs, Internal Audit, Internal Affairs, Modernization Programme Office and Board Secretariat and Legal Affairs are headed by Deputy Commissioners, who all report directly to the Commissioner-General.

“In accordance with the provisions of the GRA Act, 2009 (Act791), all dealings and businesses with the former revenue agencies should be redirected to the Ghana Revenue Authority with immediate effect,” the statement said.

Source: GNA